Review: Alanis Morissette, Capital FM Arena, by Phil Viles

YOU'D be forgiven for thinking that Alanis Morissette had become something of a hermit, living in a secluded Canadian outpost and surviving only off Vegan food and memories prior to 1998; about the time when the UK stopped caring and brushed her aside.But since then she has been busy writing a plethora of albums, making numerous appearances on influential US TV shows and generally being creative. It's just that us Brits were oblivious to this because we all own Jagged Little Pill, and that's the only Alanis album you need, right?Wrong, because her expansive ouvre is well worth investigating, and her recent record, Havoc and Bright Lights, is at the zenith of this stealth-like existence.What better way to re-establish yourself in a country that has forsaken you? Embark on a comeback arena tour, of course, and remind people of what they've been missing.Unfortunately, that plan didn't quite come off. The arena was halved, and a less than packed floor awaited her. Having sung the first strains of I Remain from behind the stage as her band play, that unmistakable, iconic voice piercing the atmosphere, she finally appears for fellow album track, Woman Down.Those who simply came to reminisce over the summer of '95 weren't disappointed. All I Really Want is followed by You Learn, Head Over Feet, Oughta Know and her monolithic success story, Ironic, which she allows the crowd to sing back at her.However, it's not the highlight. That accolade goes to Uninvited, in which Alanis displays a split personality, tossing and turning from lost soul to demented femme fatale in a dark and brooding rock opera that Muse can only dream of.Recent single, Guardian, is the pick from her recent record, and sees her strum her golden spangly guitar, emphasising her many talents, which also include playing the harmonica, having a mezzo-soprano range and managing to have found a way of halting the aging process. Seriously, she hasn't changed in 20 years!She is ably backed by a band who plough through the entire handbook entitled Rock Posturing Level One, with some quintessential stadium rock moves. They include the back-to-back strum, the pogo and, yes, the windmill.Each song is a potent reminder that this is a woman who has amassed 66 million album sales.A stripped back rendition of One Hand In My Pocket and the quite stunning Thank U help close the show and as reminders go, this was a forceful jab to the solar plexus.Those that stayed away perhaps assumed she'd lost it, or had become stale. But the truth is she's as vibrant and dynamic now as she's ever been. Those absentees would've loved it. Isn't that ironic.